-
![Dr Elmira Köchümkulova speaks with an event attendee at the launch of the book "Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan" by Professor Margaret Morton.](https://the.ismaili/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_banner/public/cities_of_the_dead_final-crop-resize-q10.jpg?itok=Dw_qOI0U "Dr Elmira Köchümkulova speaks with an event attendee at the launch of the book "Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan" by Professor Margaret Morton.")
"Cities of the Dead" book launches with photo exhibition of cemetery architecture in Kyrgystan
Dr Elmira Köchümkulova speaks with an event attendee at the launch of the book "Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan" by Professor Margaret Morton. Akbar Dewji
The Ismaili Centre Toronto
Canada
Toronto, 9 May 2015 – The Ismaili Centre hosted the launch of the book Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan with a symposium at the Aga Khan Museum, a photo exhibition and a series of illustrated lectures on Central Asia’s spectacular funerary architecture and religious traditions. The events were organised by the Ismaili Council for Canada in partnership with the University of Central Asia, the Global Centre for Pluralism and the Aga Khan Museum.
During the evening, author and photographer Professor Margaret Morton and University of Central Asia Professors Dr Nasser Rabbat and Dr Elmira Köchümkulova took the audience on a journey through Kyrgyzstan’s cemeteries and religious life and their significance for Islamic civilisation. The lectures were followed by an interactive question and answer period and a book signing.
Professor Morton’s book is part of the University of Central Asia's Cultural Heritage Book Series, a growing collection of works by regional and international scholars aimed at preserving Central Asia’s unique and diverse cultural heritage through research, documenting, archiving and supporting regional scholarship.
The exhibition, Cities of the Dead: Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan, will be open from 9 May to 30 July 2015 at the Ismaili Centre. The exhibition is part of Cities of Arrival – a curated programme of events held throughout 2015 that explores the pasts, presents and futures of cities and urban life, and critically imagines how humanity will share the most densely populated spaces on our planet.
